(ThyBlackMan.com) Rashard Mendenhall from the Pittsburgh Steelers has been dropped by one of his sponsors, Champion over tweets that were controversial in the midst of the Osama bin Laden killing this week.
“Champion is ending our business relationship with Mendenhall since the athletic brand doesn’t think he can appropriately represent Champion,” spokesman Matt Hall said.
In his controversial tweets, Mendenhall mentioned that he’s not sure what 
happened on 9/11 and he also questioned why Americans were celebrating death so readily. The player recently signed a 4-year contract extension with Champion to endorse the company until 2015.
Quick thoughts on Rashard Mendenhall:
1) That’s the way things go in corporate America: Corporations are, for the most part, cowardly. As I mentioned in my article about Donald Trump, anything that brings volatility to the table creates discomfort and uncertainty for many American corporations. It’s hard to imagine that any company selling products to Americans during a time of intense patriotism would stand behind someone making comments like those made by Mendenhall. Time Magazine did the same thing in 2001 by making Rudolph Guiliani it’s Person of the Year, when everyone knew that the most impactful human being on earth that year was Osama bin Laden. Until that point, the Person of the Year contest with Time Magazine was not a popularity contest, but a measure of which human being has had the greatest impact on the world. In spite of the grief that bin Laden caused many Americans in 2001, he was the one everyone was talking about, so he should have been the one they chose.
2) Mendenhall is not crazy: I read through Mendenhall’s comments and saw him as a young black man seeking an understanding of the world around him. While I don’t agree with all of his remarks, he did make an accurate point that there is something dastardly about celebrating Osama bin Laden being killed in front of his 12-year old daughter. Yes, he needed to bear the consequences of his actions, but I’ve never felt comfortable celebrating death. Additionally, our alleged pursuit of global peace is consistently undermined by the naive manner through which we support a US foreign policy that kills thousands around the world every year. The US drone attacks in Pakistan, for example, kill scores of innocent civilians every month, yet we can’t understand why anyone would want to retaliate against us. Until we let go of our arrogance and learn the value of compassionate interaction with our fellow global citizens, Americans will never have the peace that we deserve.
3) Mendenhall was being punished for thinking too much: According to American standards and tradition, a black male athlete is not supposed to think for himself. Instead, he is supposed to be easily distracted by gold chains, fancy cars and lots of women (that’s part of the reason why most college and high school athletes aren’t educated very well). By standing up as an intellectual warrior in his own way, Mendenhall challenged the notion that his gatekeepers would think for him. When an athlete steps out of line, he is sure to be punished. But as the founder of ALARM, the Athlete Liberation Academic Reform Movement, I must say that I am proud when any athlete speaks his mind on an issue that is of relevance to our society. True freedom comes with a price, but spiritual independence is worth a lot more than a silly little contract with Champion.
Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.
